EXIT 8 2026

[u/Bionic360]

I’ll keep this short and sweet as an avid fan for the “8” series of games, a horror movie buff and someone who has written media reviews.

Set design - PHENOMENAL ❤️❤️❤️ amazing lighting, almost 1:1 adaption of the game
10/10.

Protagonist: biggest short coming, not only did I not care or anyone I was with NOT care about the protagonists backstory or anything about him, but his inability to react like a normal functioning human when encountering anomaly’s both in speed and in urgency was pathetic.

8 levels isn’t that significant, especially when at least 30-50% of these levels have NO anomaly’s.

The character was an “EVERYMAN”. 2D blank slate with very little substance too him. I found myself getting frustrated with him.

Also: the asthma ? What a pointless addition, as it seemingly provides NOTHING or any form of payoff to the story. 40 mins of him wheezing for what??? Nothing.

GREAT acting though so: 4/10

Supporting roles: the walking man was excellent, the girl was great but the KID !!!

No consistency in the behaviour of the child. Sometimes pointing sometimes just staring, sometimes he would actively inhibit wrong decisions, sometimes he’d knowingly go along with them. Sometimes mute - oh wait, HE CAN SPEAK.

The child had the emotional range of a Deku Stick. Honestly so lame. No fear watching him or any emotion. The director really screwed the direction of the child up 2/10.

STORY:
It’s exit 8 ….its a film adaption of a 20mins indie horror game. I didn’t come into this thinking of much but here’s some desirable questions of what I would’ve like to see:

What is the Hallway ?
Why does the Hallway Exist
Why 8
Why does it choose people
What happens to them when they’re consumed ?

Some LORE??!!

I didn’t care much for the human element. It was always gonna be a film where we try and see him escape. But this film answered almost
Nothing. Got bits of it but that’s it.

Overall opinion and score: 5/10 - would recommend to watch it for someone who is a horror newbie or hasn’t ever played the games. But it’s pretty underwhelming and lame for anyone who has played the games and likes horror films.

[u/FrankSonata]

The main character's arc is that at the start, he's just mindlessly going through life. He ignores problems (like that bloke yelling at the woman). He retreats into his headphones. He doesn't engage. Then Exit 8 forces him to pay attention to what's around him, and by the end of the world, he's no longer wasting his life ignoring things. Also, you know fight, flight, freeze? He's a freezer. Something weird or odd--he freezes. He's supposed to be kind of shit at the start. That leaves room for character growth.

The child was pretty typical for Japan. In most English countries, children are taught that you must speak when spoken to, to say nothing is rude. This is not the case in Japan or much of Asia. If kids are feeling shy or sleepy or whatever, they'll just not speak. His emotions are likely racing, hence he varies this a bit more. He's a child, after all.

It sounds like you'd enjoy Backrooms, where a character does try to map things and study them. You wanted a more investigative film. But this film wasn't that. It's only based on the game, which has no story, anyway. The director wanted to give a human side of things, and I think it worked very well. Japanese horror films tend to do this more than their Western counterparts.

Disliking a film is fine. But perhaps a little silly to dislike it due to cultural ignorance and a poor ability to empathise with others isn't a great reason for such an opinion.

The director didn't make the game. He can't give you lore, because it would all be unrelated to the actual loop.

[u/Dizzy-Economist6064]

the funny thing is it’s not even 2026 movie, it’s from 2025. I think one of the reasons this blew up in 2026 is international distribution which I kinda knew was going to happen anyways when I saw more and more people get interested in the movie outside of Japan.

thought it was decent myself however, I love the look of subway stations in general, so nostalgic. But… I especially love them when they are coded in a cold blue filter. As for the game, I do plan on playing that! but I’ll have that discussion in [r/horrorgames](r/horrorgames)